Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill bid for Portas Pilot status

Lewisham Council is supporting a bid by community groups in Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill to secure funding from the Portas Pilot pot, intended to regenerate local high streets across the country. Following the review by Mary Portas, which explored how local high streets might be regenerated, £1.5m has been made available for 15 projects across the country and a further £300,000 has been committed by the Mayor of London to support three London projects.

Here's the bid video:

This bid includes plans to create two community hubs in high street shops renovated for exhibitions, business workshops and creative community engagement; the letting of 12 vacant units to a mix of businesses and organisations as part of a large scale ‘pop-up’ project; and the initiation of a series of subsidised pilot markets with incentives for local traders across Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill.

The successful bids will be selected at the end of this month.